Google Fiber expansion to Austin, TX now official [VIDEO]

A few days ago, Google let slip that it would be bringing Google Fiber, the company’s gigabit internet service, to Austin, TX, but the trigger appeared to have been pulled a bit too early. An empty blog post didn’t give us many details, but we at least knew it was on its way. Welp, it didn’t take long for Google to make the actual announcement as it has done just that.

Residents in Austin can expect to see connection opportunities starting in mid-2014, and while pricing hasn’t been set in stone just yet it’s expected to be priced similarly to the Kansas City installation. Users can choose gigabit internet or internet + television, with over 200 HD channels being delivered to your big screen if you want to ditch your trusty cable provider.

If you’re not down with Fiber and the costs associated with it, you might be happy to know that Google will also provide free broadband internet — a 5 megabit ordeal — for anyone who’s willing to pay a one-time construction fee. You can feed on this limited connection for up to 7 years, a noble effort by Google to get as many people connected to the internet as humanly possible.

The Google Fiber rollout has been a bit slow to say the least, but show me another company who’s taking the initiative like Google is and I’ll send you a bucket of Bubba Gump Shrimp with haste. We’re glad someone’s trying at all, and we’re glad Google’s trials in Kansas City went smoothly enough to warrant expansion to a city that is quickly growing into a technological oasis. Watch the video above to get more insight into what the expansion to Austin means by Googlers and other key figures from the area.